Skip to main content
Nebraska
Join Now

Nebraska Hoops Game Day: Illinois

Robin Washut profile picby: Robin Washut02/01/26RobinWashut

On the heels of its first loss of the season, No. 5 Nebraska must regroup for another top-10 showdown today against ninth-ranked Illinois.

Here is what you need to know going into the 20-1 Huskers’ home rematch with the Fighting Illini…

Who, What, Where, When

Nebraska Cornhuskers (20-1, 9-1 Big Ten) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten)

Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026 – 3:00 p.m. CT

Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,500)

TV: FS1

Radio: Huskers Radio Network

Internet/Streaming: FOX Sports App

Subscribe to get exclusive Huskers content on HuskerOnline today!

Nebraska projected starters

Jamarques LawrenceGSr.6-3/185Lawrence tied for the team-high with 20 points in Nebraska’s loss at No. 3 Michigan. That marked his third 20-point performance of the season and his second in the last six games.
Sam HoibergGSr.6-0/180After posting 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists at Michigan, Hoiberg has averaged 12.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, and 5.0 apg over the last five games.
Pryce SandfortGJr.6-7/210Sandfort scored a team-high 20 points at Michigan, his fifth straight 20-point effort. He also hit five 3-pointers to move into 10th place on NU’s single-season list (73).
Berke BuyuktuncelFJr.6-10/240Buyuktuncel finished with five points, five rebounds, four
assists, two steals, and three turnovers over his career-high 36 minutes at No. 3 Michigan
Rienk MastFSr.6-10/250 Mast was a late scratch from the lineup at Michigan due to an illness. Nebraska is hopeful he will be well enough to return to action today against Illinois.

Illinois projected starters

Keaton WaglerGFr.6-6/185Wagler has emerged as one of the top freshmen in the country, averaging 17.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 4.2 apg this season. That includes scoring 46 at Purdue and averaging 20.1 ppg over his last 13 outings.
Andrej StojakovicGJr.6-7/215Stojakovic ranks third on the team at 13.6 points per game. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in Illinois’ home loss to Nebraska back in December.
Jake DavisFJr.6-6/215Davis moved into the starting lineup three games ago and has averaged 7.6 points while shooting 46% (7-of-15) from 3-point range over that stretch.
David MirkovicFFr.6-9/250Mirkovic averages 12.2 points and leads Illinois with 8.2 rebounds per game. He managed just four points and three turnovers over 23 minutes in the first meeting vs. Nebraska.
Tomislav IvisicCJr.7-1/255Ivisic averages 10.0 points on 47.3% shooting with 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He scored three points on three shots over 29 minutes in UI’s loss to Nebraska.

3 keys to victory

Geat healthy

As admirable as Nebraska’s performance was in nearly upsetting No. 3 Michigan on the road without two of its top players, the Huskers need all hands on deck. Head coach Fred Hoiberg was hopeful that both Rienk Mast (illness) and Braden Frager (ankle) could return to the lineup for today’s next top-10 matchup with Illinois. However, if one or both players – NU’s second and third-leading scorers, respectively – are back on the floor, the next question is how much and well they can play. Mast had 17 points and seven rebounds in Nebraska’s win in Champaign. Frager was playing the best ball of his young career before spraining his ankle vs. Washington. Even if neither is 100 percent, just having their presence would do wonders for the Huskers’ depth.

Lock down Wagler

Few freshmen have made a bigger splash in the Big Ten, and maybe all of college basketball, than Illinois’s Keaton Wagler. The former four-star from Shawnee (Kansas) Mission Northwest has emerged as one of the most potent scorers in the conference. He leads Illinois at 17.7 points per game while shooting 43.7% on 3-pointers with 52 makes this season. Wagler has especially taken off since UI lost star point guard Kylan Boswell (broken wrist), averaging 20.1 ppg over his last 13 contests. He also leads the Illini with 4.2 assists per game, but if there’s a hole in his game, it’s ball security. Illinois has been excellent at taking care of the basketball, ranking 24th nationally in offensive turnover percentage (14.1). However, Wagler commits 1.5 giveaways per outing, including matching his season-high with three TOs in the first meeting vs. Nebraska. The Huskers must fluster him defensively every time he touches the ball.

Battle on the glass

Nebraska pulled out an 83-80 win at Illinois in December despite getting dominated on the boards, especially on the defensive end. The Fighting Illinois cleaned up the offensive glass with an astounding 43% offensive rebounding rate (13 on 30 misses) for 19 second-chance points. That performance was no outlier, either. Illinois leads the Big Ten with 16.2 offensive boards per game and ranks fourth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (39.9). That includes owning a 24-4 advantage in second-chance scoring in its win over Washington on Thursday night. In conference play, UI has scored 17 percent of its points off of offensive boards. Finishing defensive possessions has always been critical for Nebraska, but it won’t be a bigger priority than in tonight’s rematch.

Quotable

“Yeah, million dollar question. I don’t know. It was tough. The way we thought about it was a game we had chances to win and we let it go. Yeah, we played hard, we fought; everybody was pretty exhausted. But we talked about it in film, we had so many chances to go get that game. We try not to listen to the outside and what’s going on around college basketball and what people are saying. When you’re good, people will make you better than you are. When you’re struggling, they don’t always see what’s going on. So we try to block that out and watch the film and watch what’s true about our group.”

-Nebraska guard Cale Jacobsen on the Huskers’ balance of being proud of their effort at No. 3 Michigan while also disappointed they couldn’t finish the job in a loss.

Prediction

Nebraska (-2.5) 74, Illinois 71

Robin’s season record: 20-1

Vs. the spread: 16-5

Never miss breaking news or another HuskerOnline article again. Click HERE to sign up for our Daily and Breaking News Newsletters!

You may also like